History of the Jews in Vienna
Encyclopedia
The history of the Jews
in Vienna
, Austria
, goes back over eight hundred years. There is evidence of a Jewish
presence in Vienna
from the 12th century onwards.
At the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century, Vienna was one of the most prominent centres of Jewish culture in Europe, but during the period of National-Socialist rule in Austria
, Vienna’s Jewish population was almost entirely deported and murdered in the Holocaust. Since 1945, Jewish culture and society have gradually been recovering in the city.
(master of the mint). In 1238, emperor Frederick II
granted the Jews a privilege
, and the existence of community institutions such as a synagogue
, hospital
and slaughterhouse
can be proven from the 14th century onwards. Vienna’s city law empowered a special Judenrichter (Judge of the Jews) to adjudicate in disputes between Christians and Jews, but this judge was not empowered to rule in conflicts between two Jewish parties, unless one party filed a complaint with him.
The first Jews lived in the area near the Seitenstettengasse; from around 1280, they also lived around the modern-day Judenplatz
. The centre of Jewish cultural and religious life was located here from the 13th to the 15th century, until the Vienna Gesera of 1420/21, when Albert V
ordered the annihilation of the city’s Jews.
. The second Ottoman siege of Vienna
in 1683 however led to Samuel Oppenheimer
’s appointment as a financier to the court; he was also responsible for the restoration of the cemetery. Oppenheimer was able to help Samson Wertheimer
from Worms
to come to Vienna in 1684. Wertheimer was later named Court Jew
, but he could not perform his duties as a Rabbi in Vienna and therefore left for Eisenstadt
, part of the Siebengemeinden
, where Jews were welcomed under Paul I, 1st Prince Esterházy of Galántha
.
From 1736, there was a small Sephardic
population in Vienna, which had its own religious community with a synagogue at the time of Maria Theresa
. The majority Ashkenazi
population only obtained the same status much later under Franz Joseph I
.
Influenced by the Enlightenment
, emperor Joseph II
decreed his Edict of Tolerance
, which paved the way for Jewish emancipation
. For the first time in history, Jews received certain rights already accorded to Gentile
s, and discriminatory laws were struck from the books. They were however still forbidden to form a religious community and to hold religious services in public.
to Vienna
. As there was still officially no Jewish religious community, Mannheimer was employed as the “Director of the imperially approved public Israelite religious school of Vienna”. Mannheimer realised cautious reforms in Vienna without provoking a schism within the Jewish population, such as those that occurred in the majority of Jewish communities in Europe in the 19th century. With Lazar Horowitz
, who was summoned to Vienna as a Rabbi in 1828, Mannheimer agitated for the abolition of the discriminatory Jewish Oath
. The merchant Isaak Löw Hofmann also played a leading role in Vienna’s Jewish community from 1806 until his death in 1849.
On 12 December 1825, Mannheimer laid the foundation stone
for the Stadttempel
in the Seitensteingasse. The synagogue, which had been designed by Joseph Kornhäusel
, was sanctified
by Mannheimer on 9 April 1826. In the same year, Salomon Sulzer
from Hohenems
was appointed hazzan
at the synagogue, where he served for 56 years.
The Revolution of 1848
was seen by many Jewish intellectuals as a welcome opportunity to agitate for the emancipation of their community. For the first time in their history, Jews were accorded the unrestricted right to reside and to practice their religion throughout Austria in the 1867 constitution. As a consequence, the Jewish community grew rapidly: in 1860, the Jewish community in Vienna numbered 6,200; in 1870, that number had already risen to 40,200, and at the turn of the century, to 147,000. Vienna’s 2nd district
, Leopoldstadt
, developed into the centre of Vienna’s Jewish life at this time. The Jewish population in this area of the city soon represented half of the entire population in the district. The neighbouring districts of Brigittenau
(which was divided from Leopoldstadt in 1900) and Alsergrund
equally had high proportions of Jews. The Jews that lived in these areas made up the majority of Vienna’s Jewish population and belonged for the most part to the lower or middle classes – they were manual labourers, craftsmen, small-scale businessmen (e.g. café owners) and traders. Wealthy Jews lived for the most part in the villa suburbs of Döbling
and Hietzing
, and in the city centre, the Innere Stadt
.
Theodor Herzl
responded to the increasing spread of Antisemitism during this period with the creation of political Zionism
. At the same time however, the Jewish community was led predominantly by assimilated Jews.
After the outbreak of World War I
and the first Austrian defeats on the eastern front, an exodus of 350,000 refugees began in the eastern regions of the empire (Galicia). Amongst the refugees were some 50,000 (according to the police) to 70,000 (according to the Arbeiterzeitung newspaper
) Jews, who all arrived at Vienna’s northern railway station in Leopoldstadt.
Although around half of these new arrivals returned to their homes once the situation had calmed down on the eastern front, the entire Jewish community in Vienna and its relations with Vienna’s Christian population were put to the test by these events. The refugees were poverty-stricken, but work was hard to come by and factories were unwilling to employ the refugees. The situation has been described thus: “While the Germans were condemning the Jews in the east to forced labour, the Austrians were condemning them to forced unemployment”. Many of the refugees tried to earn their daily bread as peddler
s or salesmen, and many charity organisations sprung up to coordinate clothes donations and other campaigns, but the “Ostjuden” (Eastern Jews) were the victims of many negative prejudices and because of their poverty were more frequently the targets of antisemitic attacks than wealthy assimilated Jews. It was not made easy for them to establish themselves in Vienna.
With the fall of the Habsburg Monarchy, Jews could move freely throughout Austria-Hungary
. The community in Vienna grew again; it remained approximately the same size until the start of the persecution of Jews in the 1930s. At this time, Vienna’s Jews were divided into two groups. On the one hand, there were the Jews who had either lived for a long time in Vienna or who had been born there and who assimilated into Christian society. On the other hand, there were Orthodox Jews
, who wished to live in line with traditional beliefs and practices. The community’s voting habits also reveals a division; while the majority, made up for the most part of assimilated Jews, voted for the social democrats
, others voted for Jewish parties, which disputed elections both in the empire
and in the First Republic
and which concentrated their campaign advertising on fighting the social democrats for votes. Over time, almost all Jews came to vote for the social democrats, because the Jewish parties were seen as not strong enough, while all other parties were antisemitic and refused to accept Jewish members.
Antisemitism became ever more pronounced during this period. In Jewish quarters, in particular in Leopoldstadt, antisemitic organisations distributed their flyers and newspapers aimed at turning the Christian population against their Jewish neighbours. A protest at the Praterstern organised by socialists and communists against such provocation ended in violence. When the German-nationalist Josef Mohapl was stabbed to death by an apolitical attacker who already had a criminal record, right-wing newspapers dubbed this the “Christian pogrom in Leopoldstadt”, and from this moment onwards, Nazi hooligans were to be seen in Leopoldstadt. One of the first attacks on prominent establishments that these groups instigated was the destruction of the well-known “Café Produktenbörse” in December 1929. The attack on a prayer room in the Café Sperlhof in 1932 was particularly violent; praying Jews were beaten and the attackers laid waste to the building.
Many Jews joined socialist and/or Zionist (youth) organisations, the largest of which were Hashomer Hatzair
, Poale Zion
and the Jewish Socialist Workers’ Youth. In the 1930s, some socialist, Jewish and Zionist movements united in committees for action, to organise street patrols and to take action against “Hakenkreuzler” (thugs bearing the swastika), who were attacking Jews. The first such group was the “Jüdische Selbstwehr” (Jewish Self-Defence). The paramilitary organisation Betar
also had members in Vienna.
After a century of progress towards Jewish emancipation, antisemitic attacks encouraged by the Christian Social Party, the Greater German People's Party
and the Nazis
became more common between the two World Wars. Hugo Bettauer
was amongst those who recognised the signs of the time. The film “The City Without Jews
” is based on his novel with the same title.
Just one day after the Anschluss
in March 1938, Jews were being harassed in Vienna. They were driven through the streets of Vienna, their homes and shops were plundered and the process of Aryanisation
began. These events reached their climax in the Kristallnacht
pogrom
of 9–10 November 1938. All synagogues and prayer houses in Vienna were destroyed – the Stadttempel was the sole survivor because its location in a residential area prevented it from being burned down. Most Jewish shops were plundered and then closed down; over 6000 Jews were arrested in this one night, the majority were deported to the Dachau concentration camp in the following days. The Nuremberg Laws
applied in Austria from May 1938; they were reinforced with innumerable anti-semitic decrees. Jews were gradually robbed of their freedoms, were blocked from almost all professions, were shut out of schools and universities, and were forced to wear the Yellow badge
.
The Nazis dissolved Jewish organisations and institutions, hoping to force Jews to emigrate. Their plans succeeded – by the end of 1941, 130,000 Jews had left Vienna, 30,000 of whom went to the USA. They left behind all of their property, but were forced to pay the Reichsfluchtsteuer, a tax on all émigrés from the Third Reich; some received financial support from international aid organisations so that they could pay this tax. Following the Wannsee Conference
in January 1942, where the Nazis resolved to completely annihilate the Jewish population
, the majority of the Jews who had stayed in Vienna became victims of the Holocaust. Of the more than 65,000 Viennese Jews who were deported to concentration camps, only a few more than 2000 survived.
After World War II
, it took a long time for Austria
to come to a clear position with regard to its part of the responsibility for the horrors of the Third Reich. In the 1980s, a shift in thinking took place that led to the declaration on the part of the Austrian government in June 1991, in which Chancellor
Vranitzky
made the first explicit statement in parliament concerning the participation of Austrian citizens in the crimes of the Third Reich.
Vienna’s Jewish population numbered more than 185,000 before 1938. In 1946, just 25,000 Jews remained, many of whom emigrated in the following years. Meanwhile, the Jewish population in Germany actually grew as a result of emigration from Eastern Europe at this time. At the end of the 1990s, there were barely more than 7000 registered members of Vienna’s Jewish community. Many of the Jews who live in Vienna today came to the city as refugees from Eastern Europe to begin a new life in the Austrian capital. Immigrants of Jewish origin from the lands of the former Soviet Union
in particular have strengthened the ranks of Vienna’s Jewish population. In 1992, a Sephardic Centre was officially opened in the city, while in 1994 the Psychosocial Centre Esra (Help) was established and in 1999 the new school building of the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation
opened in the Augarten
. In 2000, the Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial
designed by Rachel Whiteread
was unveiled, and a Museum of Jewish history, life and religion was also opened at the Judenplatz.
In autumn 2008, the Zwi Perez Chajes school moved from the Castellezgasse to the Simon-Wiesenthal-Gasse next to the Messe Wien at the Prater
. The school thus forms part of a complex including a Jewish kindergarten, primary school and grammar school for around 600 children and is located near the Hakoah Vienna sport club, which was reopened in March 2008, an education centre and an old people’s home.
The 2001 census in Austria counted 8140 Jews in Austria, of which 6988 were living in Vienna. The Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien
however believes that there are around 15,000 Jews in Austria; some sources speak of as many as 20,000.
Leopoldstadt
continues to represent a centre of Jewish life in Vienna. The proportion of the population of Jewish faith is above average at 3.1%. There are eight Ashkenazi and three Sephardic synagogues or prayer houses in this district of the city, seven Jewish educational institutions, as well as numerous kosher
shops and restaurants.
pogrom is the Stadttempel
. Some new synagogues and prayer rooms have since been established.
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, goes back over eight hundred years. There is evidence of a Jewish
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
presence in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
from the 12th century onwards.
At the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century, Vienna was one of the most prominent centres of Jewish culture in Europe, but during the period of National-Socialist rule in Austria
Austria at the Time of National Socialism
Austria at the time of National Socialism describes in particular the period of Austrian history from March 12, 1938 when the German annexation of Austria made Austria part of the German Third Reich until the end of World War II in spring 1945....
, Vienna’s Jewish population was almost entirely deported and murdered in the Holocaust. Since 1945, Jewish culture and society have gradually been recovering in the city.
Middle Ages
Proof exists of a Jewish presence in Vienna since 1194. The first named individual was Schlom, Duke Frederick I’s MünzmeisterMünzmeister
In medieval and early modern Germany, the Münzmeister was the director or administrator of a mint, a moneyer with responsibility for the minting of coins, or specie. His duties were defined differently at different locations and ages.-Middle ages:The need for currency was relatively low during...
(master of the mint). In 1238, emperor Frederick II
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...
granted the Jews a privilege
Privilege
A privilege is a special entitlement to immunity granted by the state or another authority to a restricted group, either by birth or on a conditional basis. It can be revoked in certain circumstances. In modern democratic states, a privilege is conditional and granted only after birth...
, and the existence of community institutions such as a synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
, hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
and slaughterhouse
Shechita
Shechita is the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Jewish dietary laws...
can be proven from the 14th century onwards. Vienna’s city law empowered a special Judenrichter (Judge of the Jews) to adjudicate in disputes between Christians and Jews, but this judge was not empowered to rule in conflicts between two Jewish parties, unless one party filed a complaint with him.
The first Jews lived in the area near the Seitenstettengasse; from around 1280, they also lived around the modern-day Judenplatz
Judenplatz
Judenplatz is a town square in Vienna's Innere Stadt that was the center of Jewish life and the Viennese Jewish Community in the Middle Ages. It is located in the immediate proximity of Am Hof square, Schulhof, and Wipplingerstraße. It exemplifies the long and eventful history of the city and the...
. The centre of Jewish cultural and religious life was located here from the 13th to the 15th century, until the Vienna Gesera of 1420/21, when Albert V
Albert II of Germany
Albert the Magnanimous KG was King of Hungary from 1438 until his death. He was also King of Bohemia, elected King of Germany as Albert II, duke of Luxembourg and, as Albert V, archduke of Austria from 1404.-Biography:Albert was born in Vienna as the son of Albert IV, Duke of Austria, and Johanna...
ordered the annihilation of the city’s Jews.
16th - 18th centuries
Although there was a ban on new settlement in place until 1624, this was repeatedly circumvented through the granting of exceptions, to the point that a new cemetery was established in the Seegasse in 1582. Jews’ rights were further restricted in 1637, leading to the second expulsion of Vienna’s Jewish population in 1669/70 under Leopold ILeopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
| style="float:right;" | Leopold I was a Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia. A member of the Habsburg family, he was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria...
. The second Ottoman siege of Vienna
Battle of Vienna
The Battle of Vienna took place on 11 and 12 September 1683 after Vienna had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months...
in 1683 however led to Samuel Oppenheimer
Samuel Oppenheimer
Samuel Oppenheimer was a Jewish banker, imperial court diplomat, factor, and military supplier for the Holy Roman Emperor. He enjoyed special favor of Emperor Leopold I, to whom he advanced considerable sums of money for the Great Turkish War...
’s appointment as a financier to the court; he was also responsible for the restoration of the cemetery. Oppenheimer was able to help Samson Wertheimer
Samson Wertheimer
Samson Wertheimer was chief rabbi of Hungary and Moravia, and rabbi of Eisenstadt. He was also an Austrian financier, court Jew and Shtadlan to Austrian Emperor Leopold I.-Family:...
from Worms
Worms, Germany
Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...
to come to Vienna in 1684. Wertheimer was later named Court Jew
Court Jew
Court Jew is a term, typically applied to the Early Modern period, for historical Jewish bankers who handled the finances of, or lent money to, European royalty and nobility....
, but he could not perform his duties as a Rabbi in Vienna and therefore left for Eisenstadt
Eisenstadt
- Politics :The current mayor of Eisenstadt is Andrea Fraunschiel ÖVP.The district council is composed as follows :* ÖVP: 17 seats* SPÖ: 8 seats* Austrian Green Party: 2 seats* FPÖ: 2 seats- Castles and palaces :...
, part of the Siebengemeinden
Siebengemeinden
The Siebengemeinden were 7 Jewish communities located in Eisenstadt and its surrounding area. The groups are known as Sheva Kehillot in Hebrew....
, where Jews were welcomed under Paul I, 1st Prince Esterházy of Galántha
Paul I, 1st Prince Esterházy of Galántha
Paul I, Prince Esterházy of Galántha was the first Prince Esterházy of Galántha from 1687 to 1713, Palatine of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1681 to 1713, and an Imperial Field Marshal...
.
From 1736, there was a small Sephardic
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
population in Vienna, which had its own religious community with a synagogue at the time of Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa of Austria
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...
. The majority Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
population only obtained the same status much later under Franz Joseph I
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...
.
Influenced by the Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
, emperor Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
decreed his Edict of Tolerance
1782 Edict of Tolerance
The 1782 Edict of Tolerance was a religious reform of Joseph II during the time he was emperor of the Habsburg Monarchy as part of his policy of Josephinism, a series of drastic reforms to remodel Austria in the form of the ideal Enlightened state. Joseph II's enlightened despotism included the...
, which paved the way for Jewish emancipation
Jewish Emancipation
Jewish emancipation was the external and internal process of freeing the Jewish people of Europe, including recognition of their rights as equal citizens, and the formal granting of citizenship as individuals; it occurred gradually between the late 18th century and the early 20th century...
. For the first time in history, Jews received certain rights already accorded to Gentile
Gentile
The term Gentile refers to non-Israelite peoples or nations in English translations of the Bible....
s, and discriminatory laws were struck from the books. They were however still forbidden to form a religious community and to hold religious services in public.
19th century
In 1824, Michael Lazar Biedermann’s recommendation led to Rabbi Isaak Mannheimer being brought from CopenhagenCopenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. As there was still officially no Jewish religious community, Mannheimer was employed as the “Director of the imperially approved public Israelite religious school of Vienna”. Mannheimer realised cautious reforms in Vienna without provoking a schism within the Jewish population, such as those that occurred in the majority of Jewish communities in Europe in the 19th century. With Lazar Horowitz
Lazar Horowitz
Lazar Horowitz, or Eleazar HaLevi Ish Horowitz, Eleasar ben David Josua Hoeschel Horowitz, aka El'azar Hurwitz was an Orthodox Rabbi who led the Orthodox Jewish community of Vienna during the Vormärz period.Born in Bavaria, Horowitz was a student of Moses Sofer of Pressburg before moving to...
, who was summoned to Vienna as a Rabbi in 1828, Mannheimer agitated for the abolition of the discriminatory Jewish Oath
Oath More Judaico
The Oath More Judaico or Jewish Oath was a special form of oath, accompanied by certain ceremonies and often intentionally humiliating or dangerous, that Jews were required to take in European courts of law until the 20th century...
. The merchant Isaak Löw Hofmann also played a leading role in Vienna’s Jewish community from 1806 until his death in 1849.
| Jewish population of Vienna according to census and particular area |
|||||||
| Year | total pop. | Jews | Percentage | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1857 | 476,220 | 2617 | 1.3 | ||||
| 1869 | 607,510 | 40,277 | 6.6 | ||||
| 1880 | 726,105 | 73,222 | 10.1 | ||||
| 1890 | 817,300 | 99,444 | 12.1 | ||||
| 1890* | 1,341,190 | 118,495 | 8.8 | ||||
| 1900 | 1,674,957 | 146,926 | 8.7 | ||||
| 1910 | 2,031,420 | 175,294 | 8.6 | ||||
| 1923 | 1,865,780 | 201,513 | 10.8 | ||||
| 1934 | 1,935,881 | 176,034 | 9.1 | ||||
| 1951 | 1,616,125 | 9000 | 0.6 | ||||
| 1961 | 1,627,566 | 8354 | 0.5 | ||||
| 1971 | 1,619,855 | 7747 | 0.5 | ||||
| 1981 | 1,531,346 | 6527 | 0.4 | ||||
| 1991 | 1,539,848 | 6554 | 0.4 | ||||
| 2001 | 1,550,123 | 6988 | 0.5 | ||||
| * = after expansion of Vienna | |||||||
On 12 December 1825, Mannheimer laid the foundation stone
Cornerstone
The cornerstone concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.Over time a cornerstone became a ceremonial masonry stone, or...
for the Stadttempel
Stadttempel
The Stadttempel is the main synagogue of Vienna, Austria. It is located in the 1st District , at Seitenstettengasse 4.-History:...
in the Seitensteingasse. The synagogue, which had been designed by Joseph Kornhäusel
Joseph Kornhäusel
Josef Georg Kornhäusel was an Austrian architect of the first half of the 19th century...
, was sanctified
Sanctification
Sanctity is an ancient concept widespread among religions, a property of a thing or person sacred or set apart within the religion, from totem poles through temple vessels to days of the week, to a human believer who achieves this state. Sanctification is the act or process of acquiring sanctity,...
by Mannheimer on 9 April 1826. In the same year, Salomon Sulzer
Salomon Sulzer
Salomon Sulzer was an Austrian hazzan and composer. His family, which prior to 1813 bore the name of Levi, removed to Hohenems from Sulz in 1748. He was educated for the cantorate, studying first under the cantors of Endingen and Karlsruhe, with whom he traveled extensively, and later under...
from Hohenems
Hohenems
Hohenems is a town in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg, in the Dornbirn district. It lies in the middle of the Austrian part of the Rhine valley. With a population of 15,200 it is the fifth largest municipality in Vorarlberg...
was appointed hazzan
Hazzan
A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish cantor, a musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer.There are many rules relating to how a cantor should lead services, but the idea of a cantor as a paid professional does not exist in classical rabbinic sources...
at the synagogue, where he served for 56 years.
The Revolution of 1848
Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas
From March 1848 through July 1849, the Habsburg Austrian Empire was threatened by revolutionary movements. Much of the revolutionary activity was of a nationalist character: the empire, ruled from Vienna, included Austrian Germans, Hungarians, Slovenes, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Ruthenians,...
was seen by many Jewish intellectuals as a welcome opportunity to agitate for the emancipation of their community. For the first time in their history, Jews were accorded the unrestricted right to reside and to practice their religion throughout Austria in the 1867 constitution. As a consequence, the Jewish community grew rapidly: in 1860, the Jewish community in Vienna numbered 6,200; in 1870, that number had already risen to 40,200, and at the turn of the century, to 147,000. Vienna’s 2nd district
Districts of Vienna
The districts of Vienna are 23 named city sections of Vienna, Austria, which are also numbered for easy reference. For centuries, district boundaries have changed...
, Leopoldstadt
Leopoldstadt
Leopoldstadt is the 2nd municipal District of Vienna . There are inhabitants over . It is situated in the heart of the city and, together with Brigittenau , forms a large island surrounded by the Danube Canal and, to the north, the Danube. It is named after Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor...
, developed into the centre of Vienna’s Jewish life at this time. The Jewish population in this area of the city soon represented half of the entire population in the district. The neighbouring districts of Brigittenau
Brigittenau
Brigittenau is the 20th District of Vienna . It is located north of the central districts, north of Leopoldstadt on the same island area between the Danube and the Danube Canal...
(which was divided from Leopoldstadt in 1900) and Alsergrund
Alsergrund
Alsergrund is the ninth district of Vienna, Austria . It is located just north of the first, central district, Innere Stadt. Alsergrund was incorporated in 1862, with seven suburbs. The area is densely populated, with a lot of government-built housing. According to the census of 2001, there were...
equally had high proportions of Jews. The Jews that lived in these areas made up the majority of Vienna’s Jewish population and belonged for the most part to the lower or middle classes – they were manual labourers, craftsmen, small-scale businessmen (e.g. café owners) and traders. Wealthy Jews lived for the most part in the villa suburbs of Döbling
Döbling
Döbling is the 19th District in the city of Vienna, Austria . It is located on the north end from the central districts, north of the districts Alsergrund and Währing...
and Hietzing
Hietzing
Hietzing is the 13th municipal District of Vienna . It is located west of the central districts, west of Meidling...
, and in the city centre, the Innere Stadt
Innere Stadt
The Innere Stadt is the 1st municipal District of Vienna . The Innere Stadt is the old town of Vienna. Until the city boundaries were expanded in 1850, the Innere Stadt was congruent with the city of Vienna...
.
Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl , born Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl was an Ashkenazi Jew Austro-Hungarian journalist and the father of modern political Zionism and in effect the State of Israel.-Early life:...
responded to the increasing spread of Antisemitism during this period with the creation of political Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
. At the same time however, the Jewish community was led predominantly by assimilated Jews.
Early 20th century – the end of the Habsburg Monarchy and the First Republic
| Jewish contributions to Vienna’s economy (1934) | |||||||
| Percentage of all activity attributable to Viennese citizens of Jewish origin | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doctors | 51.6% | ||||||
| Pharmacists | 31.5% | ||||||
| Credit bureaus | 82.0% | ||||||
| Driving schools | 13.0% | ||||||
| Bakers and bread makers* | 60.0% | ||||||
| Banks | 75.0% | ||||||
| Drug stores | 26% | ||||||
| Butchers | 9% | ||||||
| Photographers | 34% | ||||||
| Hairdressers | 9.4% | ||||||
| Garages | 15.5% | ||||||
| Jewellers | 40% | ||||||
| Café operators | 40% | ||||||
| Cinemas | 63% | ||||||
| Furriers | 67.6% | ||||||
| Milliners | 34% | ||||||
| Opticians | 21.5% | ||||||
| Traders of leather goods | 25% | ||||||
| Lawyers | 85.5% | ||||||
| Advertising bureaus | 96.5% | ||||||
| Pubs | 4.7% | ||||||
| Locksmiths | 5.5% | ||||||
| Shoemakers | 70% | ||||||
| Tinsmith Tinsmith A tinsmith, or tinner or tinker or tinplate worker, is a person who makes and repairs things made of light-coloured metal, particularly tinware... s |
20% | ||||||
| Textile branch | 73.2% | ||||||
| Watchmakers | 32% | ||||||
| Dental technicians | 31% | ||||||
| Candy stores | ≤ 70% | ||||||
| Scrap metal and metal dealers | ≤ 100% | ||||||
| Petrol and oil dealers | 70% | ||||||
| Poultry dealers | 60% | ||||||
| Wood and paper dealers | ≤ 70% | ||||||
| Furniture traders and producers | 85% | ||||||
| Radio dealers | ≤ 80% | ||||||
| Wine dealers | 73.6 % | ||||||
| * as well as the entire production of bread | |||||||
After the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the first Austrian defeats on the eastern front, an exodus of 350,000 refugees began in the eastern regions of the empire (Galicia). Amongst the refugees were some 50,000 (according to the police) to 70,000 (according to the Arbeiterzeitung newspaper
Arbeiter-Zeitung (Vienna)
For the Chicago anarchist newspaper, see Arbeiter-Zeitung The Arbeiter-Zeitung was started as a Socialist newspaper on July 12, 1889 by Victor Adler. The paper was banned in 1934 after the Feb. 13 issue , but reappeared on Aug...
) Jews, who all arrived at Vienna’s northern railway station in Leopoldstadt.
Although around half of these new arrivals returned to their homes once the situation had calmed down on the eastern front, the entire Jewish community in Vienna and its relations with Vienna’s Christian population were put to the test by these events. The refugees were poverty-stricken, but work was hard to come by and factories were unwilling to employ the refugees. The situation has been described thus: “While the Germans were condemning the Jews in the east to forced labour, the Austrians were condemning them to forced unemployment”. Many of the refugees tried to earn their daily bread as peddler
Peddler
A peddler, in British English pedlar, also known as a canvasser, cheapjack, monger, or solicitor , is a travelling vendor of goods. In England, the term was mostly used for travellers hawking goods in the countryside to small towns and villages; they might also be called tinkers or gypsies...
s or salesmen, and many charity organisations sprung up to coordinate clothes donations and other campaigns, but the “Ostjuden” (Eastern Jews) were the victims of many negative prejudices and because of their poverty were more frequently the targets of antisemitic attacks than wealthy assimilated Jews. It was not made easy for them to establish themselves in Vienna.
With the fall of the Habsburg Monarchy, Jews could move freely throughout Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
. The community in Vienna grew again; it remained approximately the same size until the start of the persecution of Jews in the 1930s. At this time, Vienna’s Jews were divided into two groups. On the one hand, there were the Jews who had either lived for a long time in Vienna or who had been born there and who assimilated into Christian society. On the other hand, there were Orthodox Jews
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
, who wished to live in line with traditional beliefs and practices. The community’s voting habits also reveals a division; while the majority, made up for the most part of assimilated Jews, voted for the social democrats
Social Democratic Party of Austria
The Social Democratic Party of Austria is one of the oldest political parties in Austria. The SPÖ is one of the two major parties in Austria, and has ties to trade unions and the Austrian Chamber of Labour. The SPÖ is among the few mainstream European social-democratic parties that have preserved...
, others voted for Jewish parties, which disputed elections both in the empire
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
and in the First Republic
First Austrian Republic
The Republic of Austria encompasses the period of Austrian history following the signing of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye of September 1919, the settlement after the end of World War I which put an end to the Republic of German Austria, continuing up to World War II...
and which concentrated their campaign advertising on fighting the social democrats for votes. Over time, almost all Jews came to vote for the social democrats, because the Jewish parties were seen as not strong enough, while all other parties were antisemitic and refused to accept Jewish members.
Antisemitism became ever more pronounced during this period. In Jewish quarters, in particular in Leopoldstadt, antisemitic organisations distributed their flyers and newspapers aimed at turning the Christian population against their Jewish neighbours. A protest at the Praterstern organised by socialists and communists against such provocation ended in violence. When the German-nationalist Josef Mohapl was stabbed to death by an apolitical attacker who already had a criminal record, right-wing newspapers dubbed this the “Christian pogrom in Leopoldstadt”, and from this moment onwards, Nazi hooligans were to be seen in Leopoldstadt. One of the first attacks on prominent establishments that these groups instigated was the destruction of the well-known “Café Produktenbörse” in December 1929. The attack on a prayer room in the Café Sperlhof in 1932 was particularly violent; praying Jews were beaten and the attackers laid waste to the building.
Many Jews joined socialist and/or Zionist (youth) organisations, the largest of which were Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair
Hashomer Hatzair is a Socialist–Zionist youth movement founded in 1913 in Galicia, Austria-Hungary, and was also the name of the group's political party in the Yishuv in the pre-1948 British Mandate of Palestine...
, Poale Zion
Poale Zion
Poale Zion was a Movement of Marxist Zionist Jewish workers circles founded in various cities of the Russian Empire about the turn of the century after the Bund rejected Zionism in 1901.-Formation and early years:Poale Zion parties and organisations were started across the Jewish diaspora in the...
and the Jewish Socialist Workers’ Youth. In the 1930s, some socialist, Jewish and Zionist movements united in committees for action, to organise street patrols and to take action against “Hakenkreuzler” (thugs bearing the swastika), who were attacking Jews. The first such group was the “Jüdische Selbstwehr” (Jewish Self-Defence). The paramilitary organisation Betar
Betar
The Betar Movement is a Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Vladimir Jabotinsky. It has been traditionally linked to the original Herut and then Likud political parties of Israel, and was closely affiliated with the pre-Israel Revisionist Zionist splinter group...
also had members in Vienna.
After a century of progress towards Jewish emancipation, antisemitic attacks encouraged by the Christian Social Party, the Greater German People's Party
Greater German People's Party
The Greater German People's Party was a German nationalist and national liberal party during the First Republic of Austria.-Foundation:...
and the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
became more common between the two World Wars. Hugo Bettauer
Hugo Bettauer
Hugo Bettauer , born Maximilian Hugo Bettauer, was a prolific Austrian writer and journalist, who was murdered by a Nazi Party follower on account of his controversial views...
was amongst those who recognised the signs of the time. The film “The City Without Jews
The City Without Jews
Die Stadt ohne Juden is an Austrian Expressionist film made in 1924 by H. K. Breslauer, based on the book of the same title by Hugo Bettauer. The film is one of the few surviving Expressionist films from Austria, and has therefore been well researched...
” is based on his novel with the same title.
1938 to 1945
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
in March 1938, Jews were being harassed in Vienna. They were driven through the streets of Vienna, their homes and shops were plundered and the process of Aryanisation
Aryanization
Aryanization is a term coined during Nazism referring to the forced expulsion of so-called "non-Aryans", mainly Jews, from business life in Nazi Germany and the territories it controlled....
began. These events reached their climax in the Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
of 9–10 November 1938. All synagogues and prayer houses in Vienna were destroyed – the Stadttempel was the sole survivor because its location in a residential area prevented it from being burned down. Most Jewish shops were plundered and then closed down; over 6000 Jews were arrested in this one night, the majority were deported to the Dachau concentration camp in the following days. The Nuremberg Laws
Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany introduced at the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. After the takeover of power in 1933 by Hitler, Nazism became an official ideology incorporating scientific racism and antisemitism...
applied in Austria from May 1938; they were reinforced with innumerable anti-semitic decrees. Jews were gradually robbed of their freedoms, were blocked from almost all professions, were shut out of schools and universities, and were forced to wear the Yellow badge
Yellow badge
The yellow badge , also referred to as a Jewish badge, was a cloth patch that Jews were ordered to sew on their outer garments in order to mark them as Jews in public. It is intended to be a badge of shame associated with antisemitism...
.
The Nazis dissolved Jewish organisations and institutions, hoping to force Jews to emigrate. Their plans succeeded – by the end of 1941, 130,000 Jews had left Vienna, 30,000 of whom went to the USA. They left behind all of their property, but were forced to pay the Reichsfluchtsteuer, a tax on all émigrés from the Third Reich; some received financial support from international aid organisations so that they could pay this tax. Following the Wannsee Conference
Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee Conference was a meeting of senior officials of the Nazi German regime, held in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee on 20 January 1942. The purpose of the conference was to inform administrative leaders of Departments responsible for various policies relating to Jews, that Reinhard Heydrich...
in January 1942, where the Nazis resolved to completely annihilate the Jewish population
Final Solution
The Final Solution was Nazi Germany's plan and execution of the systematic genocide of European Jews during World War II, resulting in the most deadly phase of the Holocaust...
, the majority of the Jews who had stayed in Vienna became victims of the Holocaust. Of the more than 65,000 Viennese Jews who were deported to concentration camps, only a few more than 2000 survived.
After 1945
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, it took a long time for Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
to come to a clear position with regard to its part of the responsibility for the horrors of the Third Reich. In the 1980s, a shift in thinking took place that led to the declaration on the part of the Austrian government in June 1991, in which Chancellor
Chancellor of Austria
The Federal Chancellor is the head of government in Austria. Its deputy is the Vice-Chancellor. Before 1918, the equivalent office was the Minister-President of Austria. The Federal Chancellor is considered to be the most powerful political position in Austrian politics.-Appointment:The...
Vranitzky
Franz Vranitzky
Franz Vranitzky is an Austrian politician. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria , he was Chancellor of Austria from 1986 to 1997.-Early life and career:...
made the first explicit statement in parliament concerning the participation of Austrian citizens in the crimes of the Third Reich.
Vienna’s Jewish population numbered more than 185,000 before 1938. In 1946, just 25,000 Jews remained, many of whom emigrated in the following years. Meanwhile, the Jewish population in Germany actually grew as a result of emigration from Eastern Europe at this time. At the end of the 1990s, there were barely more than 7000 registered members of Vienna’s Jewish community. Many of the Jews who live in Vienna today came to the city as refugees from Eastern Europe to begin a new life in the Austrian capital. Immigrants of Jewish origin from the lands of the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in particular have strengthened the ranks of Vienna’s Jewish population. In 1992, a Sephardic Centre was officially opened in the city, while in 1994 the Psychosocial Centre Esra (Help) was established and in 1999 the new school building of the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation
Ronald Lauder
Ronald Steven Lauder is a Jewish-American businessman, civic leader, philanthropist, and art collector. Forbes lists Lauder among the richest people of the world with an estimated net worth of $3.0 billion in 2007.-Life and career:...
opened in the Augarten
Augarten
The Augarten is a 52.2 hectare public park in Leopoldstadt, the second district of Vienna, Austria. It contains the oldest Baroque gardens of the city....
. In 2000, the Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial
Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial
The Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial also known as the Nameless Library stands in Judenplatz in the first district of Vienna. It is the central memorial for the Austrian victims of the Holocaust and was designed by the British artist Rachel Whiteread....
designed by Rachel Whiteread
Rachel Whiteread
Rachel Whiteread, CBE is an English artist, best known for her sculptures, which typically take the form of casts. She won the annual Turner Prize in 1993—the first woman to win the prize....
was unveiled, and a Museum of Jewish history, life and religion was also opened at the Judenplatz.
In autumn 2008, the Zwi Perez Chajes school moved from the Castellezgasse to the Simon-Wiesenthal-Gasse next to the Messe Wien at the Prater
Prater
The Wiener Prater is a large public park in Vienna's 2nd district . The amusement park, often simply called "Prater", stands in one corner of the Wiener Prater and includes the .-Name:...
. The school thus forms part of a complex including a Jewish kindergarten, primary school and grammar school for around 600 children and is located near the Hakoah Vienna sport club, which was reopened in March 2008, an education centre and an old people’s home.
The 2001 census in Austria counted 8140 Jews in Austria, of which 6988 were living in Vienna. The Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien
Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien
The Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien is the body that represents Vienna’s Jewish community. Today, the IKG has around 7000 members...
however believes that there are around 15,000 Jews in Austria; some sources speak of as many as 20,000.
Leopoldstadt
Leopoldstadt
Leopoldstadt is the 2nd municipal District of Vienna . There are inhabitants over . It is situated in the heart of the city and, together with Brigittenau , forms a large island surrounded by the Danube Canal and, to the north, the Danube. It is named after Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor...
continues to represent a centre of Jewish life in Vienna. The proportion of the population of Jewish faith is above average at 3.1%. There are eight Ashkenazi and three Sephardic synagogues or prayer houses in this district of the city, seven Jewish educational institutions, as well as numerous kosher
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...
shops and restaurants.
Synagogues
Over the centuries, 93 synagogues have been founded in Vienna. The only synagogue to have survived the KristallnachtKristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
pogrom is the Stadttempel
Stadttempel
The Stadttempel is the main synagogue of Vienna, Austria. It is located in the 1st District , at Seitenstettengasse 4.-History:...
. Some new synagogues and prayer rooms have since been established.
See also
- History of the Jews in AustriaHistory of the Jews in AustriaThe history of the Jews in Austria likely originates in an exodus of Jews from the Roman occupation of Israel. During the course of many centuries, the political status of the community rose and fell many times: during certain periods, the Jewish community prospered and enjoyed political equality,...
- Israelitische Kultusgemeinde WienIsraelitische Kultusgemeinde WienThe Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien is the body that represents Vienna’s Jewish community. Today, the IKG has around 7000 members...
- Antisemitism
External links
- 150 Jahre IKG: Rede von Ariel Muzicant anlässlich des 150-jährigen Bestehens der IKG Wien
- Gedenk- und Aufklärungsarbeit der Stadt Wien
- Martha Keil – Geschichte der Juden in Wien
- Das österreichische Judentum
Further reading
- Ruth BeckermannRuth BeckermannRuth Beckermann is a Jewish Austrian filmmaker.Ruth Beckermann lives and works as an independent author and filmmaker in Vienna and Paris. Her films have been shown at prestigious festivals...
: Die Mazzesinsel – Juden in der Wiener Leopoldstadt 1918–38. LöckerLockerLocker may refer to:* Locker , various kinds of storage compartment or container* Footlocker , a storage box* In nautical usage, a "locker" may be a storage place that in other environments would not be referred to as a locker, such as cupboards on board ships for keeping stores, anchor lockers,...
, Wien 1984, ISBN 978-3-85409-068-7. - Michaela Feurstein, Gerhard Milchram: Jüdisches Wien. Mandelbaum Verlag, Wien 2007, ISBN 978-3-85476-225-6.
- Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek; Gabriele Kohlbauer-Fritz (Red.): Jüdischer Stadtplan Wien. Einst und jetzt. Stadtplan. Hrsg.: Jüdisches Museum der Stadt Wien. Freytag-Berndt und ArtariaArtariaArtaria and company was one of the most important music publishing firms of the late 18th and 19th century. Founded in the 18th century in Vienna, the company is associated with many leading names of the classical era.- History :...
, Wien 1993. - János KalmárJános KalmárJános Kalmár is a Hungarian fencer. He won a bronze medal in the team sabre event at the 1968 Summer Olympics.-References:...
, Alfred Stalzer: Das Jüdische Wien. PichlerPichlerPichler may refer to:* Johannes W. Pichler, Austrian Law Professor, specialized in European law* Joe Pichler, American actor* Karoline Pichler , Austrian novelist...
, Wien 2000, ISBN 3-85058-182-9.